It rained almost all day yesterday. Lovely gentle warm rain. I came in from the evening chores soaked to the first layer and happy as a lark.
The trees are blooming. Here are two of my favourites: Magnolia ‘Butterflies’ This is the most wonderful little tree. She just bloomed yesterday, will not bloom for long, and her bright yellow petals are a joy to behold on the gray rainy day. I have planted this tree right beside the front path so I can see it from the verandah and through the kitchen doors. It is young yet, and has great promise.
This pink magnolia I planted when my friend Donna died. It grows in the center of a garden I named for my other old friend, in New Zealand. We were three very good friends for many, many years and Donna’s tree in Neville’s garden with Celi tending them both feels deeply Right to me.
Donna’s tree has also just begun to unfurl its dramatic flowers. Unlike Butterflies the pink magnolia will bloom for weeks. Last summer it was opening flowers like beckoning hands almost the whole summer.
Boo decided to spend the afternoon in his pod on the verandah. These cut down plastic drums are the best dog beds ever. A cushion in the bottom and they curl into them like snails. One day Ton got up out of his and there, right under him deep in the pod was a small cat. The squashed cat yawned and stretched. I do not know whether Ton was using it as a hot water bottle or simply did not notice he was sleeping on top of a cat. Though, Egoli our biggest barn cat sleeps in the chickens laying boxes in the barn, ON the eggs. As though he is hatching them. These two do not have the Princess and the Pea Syndrome that I have.
Ton spent the whole afternoon in the barn, waiting for the shower to pass. It didn’t. It was a steady rain. He did not mind.
Rain.
Good morning. I have been watching these cows and their calves and have come to the conclusion that the calves do most of their drinking early in the morning, early in the evening and through the night- when it is cooler. When it is a hot afternoon (and it is not even that hot yet) everyone lies down and rests for hours. Cows (being prey animals) tend to be more watchful at night – in the daytime they sleep. And Naomi does not do well in the heat, her mother has her out in the field and the poor wee girl is panting hard. She is very hot. Mouth open, saliva dripping. I have carried her in to the barn more than once to cool her off.
So, as it is time to start the next stage of share milking, from now on I will shut Naomi into the cool barn with water and hay for the afternoon. This will be Naomi’s training time with me. Then I will milk her mother in the evenings when it is cooling off. Then let Baby out with her mother again. Slowly we will lengthen their time apart, this is easier to do in the daytime too, and we will train her mother to milk like a Lady again. I think she is testing me, but I have an endless amount of patience, this is one of my skills, (it is good to know what you are good at) so I think that after a few weeks we will come to an agreement. As long as I keep thinking like a cow.
Also (and most importantly) in the evenings John is home and he can help me with the management of the reluctant milker. Last night, with Johns help, I was able to milk Lady Astor very well. She does not like the time change but I do not like the kicking. I need help. So, every time she kicked he raised her tail straight up. Very soon she was standing quietly for good lengths of time. Then feeling confident I brought Elsie in and using the same process I milked her by hand – I found a tiny nick on one of her teats, on the side that was engorged and I wonder whether this was one of her problems – so I milked that side to relieve the pressure then opened the gate and let her go back to her baby.
I am going to do this every night until she goes to her new home. Hopefully her udder won’t be so lopsided then.
When John left the barn he said “Well, I am back out to my garden, at least my vegetables don’t try kick me!”
Ah well. It is all training. Sometimes husbands need a little training too! It still makes me laugh that I am the big vegetable eater and I handle the large animals and he is the big meat eater and grows the vegetables. Ah well. Life is good! I am going to make cheese today!
I hope you have a lovely day.
Your friend on the farm,
celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
62 responses to “Rain”
You definitely have lots of patience 🙂
Morning Mad! c
I came across this (wooly Mangalica pigs in Hungary) over the weekend:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-30042761
I adore these lovely fat pigs – there are even some here in USA..
There used to be a native British white woolen pig – the Lincolnshire Curly Coat, larger than the Mangolica, but sadly it died out in the 1970s. However, the Curly Coat was exported to Hungary and Austria to breed with the Mangolica, so there may be a little of the DNA left in the modern Mangolica breed.
Curly Coat.. that sounds so sweet, the 1970’s was when the kunekune almost died out too.. c
It must be something linking them to undomesticated pigs…
At least when milking goats they are not apt to kick you, they are more apt to wait until the very last minute and then very daintily put their foot into the bucket!
I can just see that! I will be hand milking them too so that will be an experience.. right at the moment I am looking forward to it.. c
What a lovely post – in so many ways. The trees are very pretty and how fitting to use the garden as area of memorial to departed friends. I’m enjoying reading about the progress of the cows too. Here on Skye we’re enjoying a period of (for us) settled weather – several days of sun now. I spent yesterday gardening and enjoying the birdsong. All the best.
Sun on Skye – wonderful.. c
Morning Ms Celi, love that picture of Boo!! And hearing about Ton sleeping on top of the kitty!!! With all the rain I’d be much happier if I had my garden planted. Have had to wait to get it plowed and tilled. Wonder why Naomi gets so hot? Maybe she needs to hang around with Sheila!! The trees budding out are always so pretty in the spring!! Have a great day!!
She has such a small body mass that she cannot quite regulate her temperature yet, but she is growing and soon will seek shade by herself.. looks like it will be cool for a while now though which will help. c
Egoli could have breakfast in bed if he’s around when the chicks start hatching …. or this could be another farmy saga competing with Boo and his kittens. Egoli sitting on a barn beam with all his chicks next to him 🙂 Laura
Oh I can just see that! Egoli and his flock!.. c
Goodmorning! It is raining here as well, has been since early last evening. The forecast is for rain through the week and likely some wet snow mixed in. No flowers or tree blooms yet, but the rhubarb is peeking through the dirt 🙂
I’ve been meaning to mention that I updated our webpage finally to show the masonry heater I built last fall. http://apsleycountrybakery.weebly.com/masonry-heater-construction.html
Thank you Pete. i pop in every now and then to see if there is anything new on the sour dough baking front! I will pop over.. c
Life is very strange sometimes, and I love the way you gather all the oddities into words to share with us. Thank you.
love,
ViV
I love the weird! Are you feeling better ViV? Got your energy back? c
Not really – I keep falling asleep!
Hmm..
Viv, how is the BP, have you had it checked lately? Sudden loss of energy and need to sleep can mean the BP has dropped.
My BP is kept artificially low by betablockers and the pacemaker. I’m seeing the cardio this afternoon.
Hope all goes well this afternoon.
Thank you. 🙂
The old countryman who taught me to milk many years ago used to hobble his house cow. She’d walk into her stall quite readily, and start munching on a net of hay. He’d slip a pair of hobbles around her back legs, and if she was ever tempted to kick, she’d just give herself a jerk which made her stand like a rock for the rest of the session. They were like leather cuffs, lined with sheeps-wool padded felt, and a plaited thong between the two buckled cuffs. He said “she were a fidgety wench wi’out ’em”, and they had the added advantage of preventing her putting her foot i the bucket, too!
I keow a guy who did that and the cow pogo sticked up and down .. kind of funny, but not very..i also knew a guy who threw his work jacket over the back of the cow and she immediately settled down. In the end it is all about training and knowing who is head cow.
And there you have it in a nutshell. It’s the same as training a child or a dog. If you whimper, they will bite you. You must be Alpha. Smart woman you are. 🙂
What a lovely post – your joy comes through loud and clear and makes me smile. And it’s raining here, too. 😃
Rain at this time of year is pure bonus! Though now we have some big winds and cold coming but ah well. The weather is the way it is.. c
A warm rain seems lovely. WE did NOT have a warm rain…it felt like January all over again. I felt so sorry for the song birds, but there was nothing I could do for them.
I did give them all extra bird seed to help keep them warm!
Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
https://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com/sherlock-boomer
Hello Cecilia, I am so interested to see a vibrant yellow magnolia. I didn’t know there was such a thing! I thought they were all a variation on pink or white. Well, you learn something new every day! I love that you have plants and gardens for special people and I can understand how Right that feels.
Hi Jane! It is a lovely tree and early to flower – just when we Really need a burst of colour. Plus it survives to Zone 5. c
you and John are like the people in the nursery rythm jack Spratt could eat no fat, his wife could eat no lean. So betwixt them both , you see, they licked the platter clean.. One for the meat, and one for the veg, a good combination….
Thinking like a cow must e very hard, ut you seem to be doing it quite well……Poor Naomi..Lady Astor is not a very good mom , leaving her baby in the heat ..it’s a good thing you are there to keep a watchful eye on her…..have a great day ! xxxx
You too patrecia.. c
That’s funny. I love growing tomatoes but don’t love eating them. My husband does. He loves growing fruit trees, that I I love eating. There’s a balance there. Doing work and kindness for your love.
Plus I think it is good to know what you do best. i am better with animals, though often i think i would like to give up and just garden all day! c
I think that as well! But then I remember that growing veggies doesn’t pay for our current life. Now to convince myself that chickens are a good idea…
chickens are a GREAT idea!
Raising a cow’s tail keeps it from kicking? What a curious bit of information. And now I am wondering how the First Farmer came to learn this helpful trivia…
exactly..
I have the Princess and the Peace Syndrome as well. That’s how I’ve always described it.
It’s a very rainy day here today too – albeit, so far there is nothing gentle about this rain – yet your photos, as always, are ever so transportive, C!